Nailers Brewing to host festival for craft drinks

From hoppy and floral IPAs to crisp blonde ales more subtle and malty ambers, the growth of local craft brews has given people a myriad of beer-drinking options.

Sometimes, it can be overwhelming figuring out what to try next.

The Nailers Brewing Co. has the solution, in the form of a sampling festival featuring the best of craft beer, wine, spirits and cider.

Nailers Brewing, one of Johnson County’s newest breweries, will stage Nailtoberfest on Oct. 13, featuring live music, food and unlimited samples of some of the region’s most innovative brews and other drinks.

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Those in attendance can listen to music from local party-band favorites Tastes Like Chicken, as well as Benito DiBartoli, who has been touring this summer as the guitarist with Eddie Money.

“It’s a good fall time to have a festival,” said Steve Harmon Jr., marketing director for Nailers Brewing Company. “We want to do something that sets us apart, to make us stand out and say, ‘Hey, we’re here.’”

Behind the gleaming wooden bar in the Nailers tasting room, a lineup of taps waits invitingly, featuring a different type of beer to match any taste.

The GFI Pilsner is a light beer with a smoky taste, perfect for a hot day. Canopy Red is a robust Irish red ale with a lightly roasted flavor.

Sledgehammer Stout unveils strong coffee notes with a malty backbone. Three different IPAs give hop-heads a variety to try.

At the same time, unique creations such as Blueberry Pilsner and Peanut Butter Stout have drawn a niche following.

“We’ve been trying a variety of beers, and we’ve found the staples that we really, really like,” Harmon Jr. said. “We had some limited release beers that were pretty successful, so we want to bring those back.”

Nailers Brewing opened its doors in April, becoming the Whiteland area’s first brewery. The business was built on the brews of Harmon Sr., a longtime homebrewing enthusiast who honed his craft over the years by making more complex beers for friends and family, until he decided to turn his hobby into a business.

The focus of the brewery is a lineup of pilsners, lagers and ales, but Harmon Sr. also brews a variety of different styles and specialties to keep beer drinkers piqued.

Since their opening in the spring, the Nailers team has been working to carve out a customer base in the crowding craft beer market. Their robust social media presence lets people keep tabs on the beer offerings being unveiled, and worked closely with Indiana On Tap, a specialty group promoting local beer-related activities.

The brewery has also taken part in a handful of area festivals, such as the Whitestown Brew Fest as well as Franklin’s own Hops and Vines festival.

“We try to take a variety of beers to each one of those, so that we can offer a sampling of each type of beer we have. It’s been great so far,” Harmon Jr. said.

Together, that has helped Nailers’ reputation spread throughout the community.

“It seems like every day, we have new customers coming in. It gets busier every week,” Harmon Jr. said. “We’ve gotten a really good response from the public that they’re happy we’re here, and have a lot of repeat customers and regulars coming in on a weekly basis.”

Their experience at some of the different beer fests in the region inspired the idea for Nailtoberfest. They had been working on a plan to found their own large-scale event, and though initially the plan was to wait until 2019, a fall-themed party was too enticing to pass up.

Nailers has worked with other companies. Local vendors have been invited to put booths up selling their goods, something for people to check out while they sample the different beverages being featured.

Guests include Bier Brewing, Webster Brewing Co., Ash and Elm, Brandywine Winery and Three Rivers Distilling. Nailers will of course be pouring as well.

With a wide range of styles and approaches from each participant, people will have plenty of opportunities to try something different.

After the festival ends, Nailers will open its brewery up for an after-party featuring music by American Crow.

“This year won’t be huge, but it’ll be a good size festival for the first year,” Harmon Jr. said.

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Nailtoberfest

What: A festival featuring local breweries, wineries, distilleries and cider producers offering unlimited samples. Live music and food will also be featured.

When: 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 13

Where: Nailers Brewing Co., 6001 N. US 31, Whiteland

Tickets: $30 general admission; $40 VIP, to enter at 5 p.m.

Where to buy: Get tickets at events.ontaptickets.com/events/nailtoberfest

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